Marxism
Socialism, Marxism & Communism are variations on the same ideology. Basically: • Government ownership of means of production • No private property • Redistribution ("From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs") • Leadership by elites or dictator. Marxism is the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in which the concept of class struggle in the current order of society stems from its economic system, capitalism; that in this system there are two major social classes; that conflict between these two classes is the root of all problems in society. The underlying principle: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". In practice, it often leads to violence since, according to Marx, a revolution is necessary in order to smash capitalism and proceed to the following stage. It also advocates for a proletariat dictatorship after the revolution to fight back any counter-revolution from the recently fallen bourgeoisie (capitalists). All Marxist forms of government in the past 150 years have been oppressive on it's citizens and as a result have failed! Because of this, today, radical leftist are taught to use the term 'socialism' and to make the point that socialism works in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and others. Conveniently misrepresenting the situations in those countries and leaving out Cuba, Venezuela, et al.
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Progress vs. Utopia

10/28/20
by Steven Pinker,
from CATO Institute,
10/26/20:

Most people have no idea that extreme poverty has declined from 90 percent to 9 percent. They have no idea that there’s been a reduction in the number of wars and deaths in wars. They don’t know that the majority of people are literate, when that wasn’t the case until fairly recently. I don’t consider it optimistic to point this out. I just consider people’s worldview to be incomplete if they don’t know these things—and many people don’t.

There’s also a kind of political motivation at stake in the denial of progress. Some people are opposed to the very system that is responsible for the gifts of progress—science and technology, trade and liberal democracy, and international organizations and other institutions. Without those drivers of progress, people have to resort to an outside cause for society’s improvements, something apart from humans and institutions. It’s almost as if some people’s worst nightmare would be that things actually got better, be-cause that scenario would vindicate the idea that, as flawed as our current arrangements are, they’re a lot better than the alternative. Certain ideologies are committed to a narrative of decline.

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